They say that the town hall is treating those without resources as criminals, always under suspicion, and forced to overcome absurd obstacles of bureaucracy and red tape, merely to receive small grants of money, which do not in any way alleviate the situations of poverty and exclusion in which they live.

The report continues, “people who come to the town hall for something as basic as food have to endure repeated interviews with Social Work Units (one visit per bag of food per month) so as to be provided with a ‘certificate of poverty’ to go to church institutions, not public or municipal, to seek food.”

(NB: Unemployment benefits in Spain are paid dependant upon how long you had worked before becoming unemployed. (Sickness is covered by employers, or rather, it isn’t, because most make short contracts and “massage” the system to get rid of any employees they feel are likely to become a burden, which is what happened in my case, back in 1995 and 1997.) Once dole runs out, the only resource is to go begging to your local town hall for discretionary hand-outs. If you’re single, don’t bother, because your family must legally keep you.)

Fluent in Spanish and having spent 16 years on the island, Pamela Stocks has now been translating, researching and publishing information on customs and events in Tenerife for 25+ years. This takes a considerable amount of time and effort, for which she receives no payment whatsoever. If you find this work useful or interesting, please buy her a coffee. Buy Pamela Stocks a Coffee